KNOWSHON COMING OFF A GOOD GAME
ENGLEWOOD (AP) – In his first start in 56 weeks, Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno kept the pile moving forward, didn’t fumble and didn’t get hurt. It was, in his coach’s eyes, such a solid performance that he’ll start again next week, too. Playing his first game since Sept. 17, and making his first start since Oct. 30, 2011, Moreno rushed for 85 yards on 20 carries Sunday in a steady return for the Broncos. He ran for 30 of those yards while the Broncos were draining all but 14 seconds of the final 6:24 off the clock in their 17-9 win over Kansas City. In other words, Moreno did precisely what the Denver running game is designed to do in 2012 – complement Peyton Manning and help the Broncos salt away games.
EMBREE UNCEREMONIOUSLY FIRED AT CU
BOULDER (AP) – A choked-up Jon Embree used his farewell news conference Monday to address several University of Colorado football players in attendance, telling them to keep up the good fight. Embree said six of his coaches offered to resign in order for him to keep his job.
Embree was fired Sunday with three years left on the five-year contract he signed nearly two years ago. He’s due a $1.5 million buyout. He suggested he got a raw deal, pointing out that he only got 1 1-2 recruiting classes. Even coming off the worst season in the program’s 123-year history, Embree’s quick hook took his players by surprise.
PAC-12 FOOTBALL AWARDS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Stanford coach David Shaw has won the Pac-12 Conference’s Coach of the Year award for the second straight season. USC Trojans wide receiver Marqise Lee also was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year and Arizona State defensive tackle Will Sutton the Defensive Player of the Year on Monday. Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota took home Offensive Freshman of the Year honors and Trojans freshman defensive end Leonard Williams won on the defensive side. Shaw is the fourth coach in league history to win the award in consecutive seasons. Shaw helped Stanford overcome the departure of No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Luck, seamlessly made a midseason quarterback change from Josh Nunes to Kevin Hogan and overtook Oregon to take the North Division crown.
Lee set conference records with 112 receptions for 1,680 yards to go with 14 touchdowns. Sutton led the Pac-12 with 1.82 tackles for loss per game and also registered 10 1/2 sacks.
WORLD CUP SKIING
BEAVER CREEK (AP) – Klaus Kroell of Austria turned in the fastest time in a downhill training run on a sun-splashed Birds of Prey course Tuesday. Under ideal conditions, Kroell charged down the demanding hill in a time of 1 minute, 41.52 seconds, edging teammate Max Franz by 0.45 seconds. Christof Innerhofer of Italy was third on the first of three training days. Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal wound up fifth. He’s the favorite after winning two straight speed events last week in Lake Louise, Alberta. Bode Miller won’t race this weekend to give his left knee more time to heal after undergoing microfracture surgery nine months ago. He won the downhill at this venue last season. The downhill race will be held Friday.
